Programmatically creating AutoCAD Electrical symbols

[TXACDE24]

Hi,

What else do we need to do other than creating the needed Attribute References for the required attributes and wire connections for a custom symbol created by code?

I have a symbol with all four wire connection related attributes (TERM.. and X.TERM..), but it does not auto connect to wires when using it.

Thanks,

[Ed.Jobe]

Before learning how to do this programmatically, you need to learn how to do it manually. I will move this to the acade forum for you to find out how.

[rhesusminus]

There's a naming convention for the blocks also:
https://help.autodesk.com/view/ACAD_E/2023/ENU/?guid=GUID-426D2FCD-D82A-4FB7-A657-28D8B2EC336D

[TXACDE24]

I do know how to create AutoCAD Electrical symbols manually and how to create AutoCAD blocks programmatically.

The question is what specific attribute definitions or attribute references we need to add to the AutoCAD blocks in the program to make the block work as AutoCAD Electrical symbols.

E.g. the attributes I highlighted in the starting post.

[pendean]

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@TXACDE24 wrote:

I do know how to create AutoCAD Electrical symbols manually and how to create AutoCAD blocks programmatically.

The question is what specific attribute definitions or attribute references we need to add to the AutoCAD blocks in the program to make the block work as AutoCAD Electrical symbols.

E.g. the attributes I highlighted in the starting post.

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Like what please? your posts to date are not specific, too generic.

A sample DWG with one or more of your blocks in it with an explanation inside that file how you wish to use it in detail might help others help you 'specifically'.

TIA

[rhesusminus]

The help files happens to mention what attributes that are needed, and what they're supposed to be named also:

AutoCAD Electrical 2023 Help | About Schematic Attributes | Autodesk

[rbh2024]

Thank you for this link to the help file I have been looking for this as well!!!

[TXACDE24]

Like the Wire Connection attributes (TERM01 and TERM02). I created TERM01/TERM02 and X4TERM01/X1TERM02 block references, but they still are regular attributes instead of real "Wire Connections" when placed in AutoCAD Electrical drawings.

[arshdeepsingh404]

Hi @TXACDE24 

I wrote a similar program a while ago that does symbol building but much faster than the symbol builder. One click place all required attributes at auto calculated positions.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/arshdeep-singh-c-tech_autocad-autolisp-autocadelectrical-activity-720...

I used the standard entmake to create all the attributes and as long as the symbol is saved using the correct naming convention, the symbol works like any other ACE symbol.

    (entmake                                                                  ; Create a new entity in the drawing 
      (list 
        (cons 0 "ATTDEF")                                                     ; Entity type:                Attribute Definition
        (cons 1 AttributeDefaultValue)                                        ; Default value:              EmTopManualPTY String
        (cons 2 (nth index AttributesList))                                   ; Tag string:                 From List
        (cons 3 "")                                                           ; Prompt string:              EmTopManualPTY String
        (cons 8 "0")                                                          ; Layer name:                 Layer 0
        (cons 10 '(0.0 0.0 0.0))                                              ; Insertion point:            0,0,0
        (cons 11 (list xCoord yCoord zCoord))                                 ; Insertion point:            User Specified
        (cons 70 AttributeVisibility)                                         ; Attribute flags:            0 (Visible) 1 (Invisible)
        (cons 72 1)                                                           ; Horizontal Justification:   1 (Center)
        (cons 74 0)                                                           ; Vertical Justification:     0 (Not Specified)
        (cons 40 (atof AttributesHeight))                                     ; Text height:                User Specified
      )
    )
    
    (terpri)                                                                  ; Command Line Carriage Return
    (princ (strcat "Attribute Inserted: " (nth index AttributesList)))        ; Print Attribute Inserted: Name to Command Line
    (terpri) 

With regards to making the wire connections manually, You seems to be doing it correctly.

I inserted the attributes in a regular drawing with standard ATTDEF command and and created a BLOCK (without symbol builder as you would do with a program) and AutoCAD seems to recognize it no problem.

One of the most common problem that many users runs into is that forget to purge the drawing before trying out a new instance of the same Block. Make sure you are purging the block or trying it on an fresh new drawing.

Second thing to verify would be the Symbol naming convention.

https://help.autodesk.com/view/ACAD_E/2022/ENU/?guid=GUID-426D2FCD-D82A-4FB7-A657-28D8B2EC336D

And the last thing is to be mindful about the XTERM attributes which is where the wire connections are made (the green x shown while running wire command). Make sure everything is on layer "0" as well.

For Left Connections: TERMxx and X4TERMxx attribute

For Right Connections: TERMxx and X1TERMxx attribute

For Top Connections: TERMxx and X2TERMxx attribute

For Bottom Connections: TERMxx and X8TERMxx attribute

[TXACDE24]

Thanks for your input, Arshdeep!

I still cannot use the symbol I created in AutoCAD Electrical with wire connection features, etc.

I noticed that the symbol created by my program shows as block reference when I click on it (top screenshot), but a symbol created by Symbol Builder shows individual elements (arc, attribute definition etc.) (bottom screenshot).

Any ideas why?

[rhesusminus]

It seems like you do something wrong in your code, and place your block inside another block.

[arshdeepsingh404 · Accepted solution]

Interesting! 

Few things that I see that you might not be doing right from your screenshot are:

Symbol Name is not quite right, I see you named it VCB01

First Character = V = Correct for Vertical Symbols

Second, Third Character = CB = Correct for family code of Circuit Breakers

Fourth Character = 0 = This should be either 1 or 2, In you case it should be 1 for parent symbol

Fifth Character = 1 = This shouldn't exist for Circuit Breakers, The fifth Character is to denote NO NC Contacts for symbols like relays.

XxTERMxx attributes are quite right either. I see you used X4TERM01 attribute twice.

1. Symbol Builder will usually complain about duplicated attributes.

2. X4TERM01 is for left connections, so you current block has two left connections

3. You have defined it as VCB i.e. Vertical Circuit Breaker, The valid connection points for this would be TOP and BOTTOM wire connections i.e. TERM01 and X2TERM01 for Top Wire Connection, TERM02 and X8TERM02 for Bottom Wire Connection.

For Left Connections: TERMxx and X4TERMxx attribute

For Right Connections: TERMxx and X1TERMxx attribute

For Top Connections: TERMxx and X2TERMxx attribute

For Bottom Connections: TERMxx and X8TERMxx attribute

Replace xx with instance, like TERM01 and X4TERM01, TERM02 and X1TERM02

These attributes are very important to be correct for wire connections to work. The insertion point of these attributes is where the little green x markers would appear for wire connection when using the block.

Regarding programming, I think @rhesusminus  has a very valid point about placing blocks inside a block. That might throw things off.

What is the workflow of your code? What does the code do after it has successfully placed all the attributes? Are you using a BLOCK command or WBLOCK or none and save everything as an independent .dwg

When we talk about the AutoCAD Electrical blocks at entity level, They are just geometry and attributes in a .dwg file, you don't use a block command to convert everything into a block. It is more like WBLOCK command where you extract all the geometry and attributes into an external .dwg file which when opened, appears in as an exploded block would.

	BLOCK	WBLOCK
Purpose	Creates a block definition within the current drawing	Writes a block to a separate drawing file (DWG)
Scope	Local to the drawing	Can be used in any drawing
Storage	Stored in the current drawing file	Saved as an external DWG file
Usage Context	Internal reuse within the same drawing	External reuse and sharing across multiple drawings

In order for more effective troubleshooting, lets break things down. See the attached dwg file, I created that using ATTDEF commands for attributes and placed a regular rectangle. I didn't use any BLOCK or WBLOCK commands, Just simply a new drawing with nothing to purge, Add Rectangle, Add Attributes, and save as HCB1

When I insert this in AutoCAD Electrical drawing, It comes an any electrical symbol would. And what I mean by inserting is to Click on Icon Menu > Browse > Select the HCB1 dwg file.

Try the attached symbol, and try creating a similar symbol using ATTDEF without any coding to narrow down the problem. If the both of these work, then we can confidently say that your code is doing something different that doesn't or only partially works.

Try a little simpler version of your code, only pieces at a time.

1. Try a code that creates a rectangle and inserts the basic attributes like TAG1, MFG, CAT, DESC1, DESC2.

2. Add additional attributes for wire connections, Set of TERMxx and XxTERMxx for connections.

3. If still no success, please share your code or a sample block created by your code and I can look at it.

Happy Coding!

[TXACDE24]

Now it works!

I added all shapes and attributes in a block and then save the block to a dwg file. I think that was what caused the issues.

The symbol works as needed when I remove the block and add all new entities directly in the dwg file.

Thank you so much!

[arshdeepsingh404]

You're Welcome! That's great to hear its working now.

Happy coding!